Romanian Participation at the 
59th International Art Exhibition — 
La Biennale di Venezia
Adina Pintilie
You Are Another Me—

A Cathedral of
the Body

1 of 10

Exhibition

Artist and filmmaker Adina Pintilie represents Romania at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2022 with the project You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body. It consists of a multi-channel video installation at the Romanian Pavilion, complemented by a virtual reality extension, hosted by the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice.

Today, once again, the body has become a contested site for ideologies, a pretext for cultural and political anxiety, brought to the extreme by the recent outbreak of an atrocious war on the European continent, motivated by an imperialist, nationalist ideology and fascist ethos. Amidst this resurgence of right-wing ideologies, seen throughout the world and accelerated during the pandemic—which also saw a hijacking of the discourses on body autonomy—Pintilie imagines a space of togetherness beyond borders and binaries.

While contributing to the current conversations towards reassessing the normative in gender, sexuality, bodily ability and diversity, Pintilie’s distinctive perspective is conveyed through her particular visual universe and aesthetics, as well as through a sophisticated and seductive rethinking of the role and power of the moving image. Emerging from her personal experiences, background, and research, and nurtured by long-term collaboration with her protagonists, the artist’s idiosyncratic methodology explores the central role of intimacy in the everyday, centering on embodied practices and deep psychological investigations inspired by Family Constellations, attachment theory, psychosomatics, trauma therapy, and bodywork practices. It proposes possibilities to see, to think, and to relate, destabilising ingrained visual rhetoric and politics of the gaze.

Pintilie’s contribution to the Romanian Pavilion is inscribed in a lineage of artists who have responded over the past two decades to the question of national representation. It continues a conversation about who represents the nation and who is excluded, about collective shame and responsibility, in the shadow of Romanian society’s fraught history of dealing with intimacy, sexuality, and bodily diversity, and by extension with solidarity between the individuals forming a perpetually fractured nation. Against the backdrop of a public sphere haunted by biopolitical control, religious and cultural conservatism, and a traditionally corrosive climate of shame, the Romanian Pavilion is conceived as a site to reflect upon the body as a device to process recognized and unrecognised history, trauma, and desires. Engaging with these complex narratives of institutionalised normativity and their habitual denial of the body, Pintilie transforms the historically loaded pavilion into a contemporary cathedral that celebrates the body and human connections beyond any preconceptions. In the spirit of the Mayan greeting You Are Another Me, the project places our connection to the bodies of others and to our own at the centre of our personal and political lives.

You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body marks the next stage of Pintilie’s multi-platform research on the politics and poetics of intimacy and the body, initiated with her feature film Touch Me Not—winner of the Golden Bear at the 2018 Berlinale and acclaimed worldwide for its boundary-pushing language and aesthetics. Her long-term, trans-disciplinary inquiry explores, through different artistic languages ​​and mediums—installation, cinema, interactive performance, publication—notions of how we relate to each other and to our own bodies, calling into question regimes of seeing in these different fields.

—Cosmin Costinaș and Viktor Neumann

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ARTIST: Adina Pintilie

Artist and filmmaker Adina Pintilie was born in 1980 in Bucharest and lives between Bucharest and Hamburg. Her decade-spanning artistic multi-platform research on intimacy, contemporary body politics, and the aesthetics and ethics of expanded moving images production spans installation, performance, film, and virtual reality and is nurtured by long-term collaborations and trans-disciplinary research. 

Her feature film Touch Me Not was awarded the Golden Bear at the 2018 Berlinale and was nominated for the European Discovery Award at the European Film Academy Awards. Since, it has been distributed in theatres in more than forty territories and was presented in festivals and institutions including the MoMA, New York; ICA, London; Bozar, Brussels; Harvard Film Archive; BFI London Film Festival; Sarajevo Film Festival; International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam; Toronto International Film Festival; Viennale, Vienna; Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film received widespread critical acclaim in reviews including in the New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, Sight & Sound, Télérama, Les Inrockuptibles, Die Welt, Die Zeit, Libertatea, Adevărul, Observator Cultural, and Arta Magazine.

The medium length Don’t Get Me Wrong premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2007 – Filmmakers of the Present Competition, won the Golden Dove Award at Dok Leipzig, the Best Female Director Award at the Mexico City International Contemporary Film Festival, and was presented in more than fifty international film festivals including the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Montpellier International Festival of Mediterranean Film, Trieste Film Festival, Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur, Documenta Madrid, Dokfest Munich, Moscow International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, and Warsaw International Film Festival. 

Her medium length Oxygen premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2010, was nominated for the Best Short Film Award at the Romanian Film Industry Awards, and was presented, amongst others, at BAFICI Buenos Aires International Film Festival, Warsaw International Film Festival i Montpellier International Film Festival, Bilbao International Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and Tampere International Film Festival. 

Her short Diary#2 won the Zonta Prize at Oberhausen International Short Film Festival in 2013, and was presented, amongst others, at the Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival and Sofia International Film Festival. Her short Man at Work 2 Sandpit#186 premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival and received a Special Mention at the Trieste International Film Festival 2009 and Second Prize at Miami International Film Festival. 

Pintilie has taught internationally including at KHM Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, Berlinale Talents, Stockholm University of the Arts, York University Toronto, National University of Drama and Film Bucharest, SOURCES 2, and Tehran Film Festival. She was jury member, amongst others, at Berlinale Official Competition, Locarno – Pardi di Domani Competition, International Competition – Trieste Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival – Eurimages Lab Award, TorinoFilmlab, Indielisboa International Film Festival, Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Nordic Competition – Goteborg International Film Festival, First Appearance – IDFA International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, Next Masters – DOK Leipzig International Film Festival. 

Currently, Pintilie is preparing her next feature film Death and the Maiden, alongside further experimentation. An international co-production (Germany, France, Austria, Czech Republic, Romanian), Death and the Maiden is an international co-production currently in development, supported by MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, MBB - Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BMKOES Austrian Ministry of Culture - Innovative Film Funding, Czech Film Fund and the Romanian Cinema Center. The international sales will be handled by The Party Film Sales.

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Performers

HERMANN MÜLLER

Hermann Müller is a cultural producer, curator, and performer. After studying Protestant Theology and Classical Philology at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität in Bonn, he joined the team of Schauspiel Köln, Cologne where he was assistant to various directors including Stefan Bachmann, Ersan Mondtag and Robert Borgmann. In 2019, he worked as the programme assistant of the exhibition Transcorporealities, curated by Leonie Radine at Museum Ludwig. Since 2021, he is working together with Eva Birkenstock, Nikola Dietrich and Viktor Neumann on the project reboot: responsiveness, a multi-cycle cooperation between Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne and Ludwig Forum Aachen. In September 2022, he will curate the Poetiktage Erzgebirge, a Czech-German festival for contemporary literature.

“I was raised in a family of many siblings, in a highly religious community. For generations, this community has literally followed the word of the Bible, leaving no room for contemporary interpretations that could better fit a modern understanding of humanity and self-fulfilment.

Their main conviction is that you only get to Heaven if you constantly see your life and your actions as sinful or doomed, and the only way to obtain Salvation is by God’s mercy. Also, it is a sin to think about sexuality, to masturbate or to make love with someone you’re not married to. If you love someone of the same sex, with no will to surpress your abnormal desires, it is believed you will go to Hell after you die.

My entire family (my parents and my five siblings) hold these beliefs and try to live strictly according to these Bible laws. I grew up with the strong belief that, if I will not be able to suppress my feelings and my sexuality, I was going to be doomed. The pastor of our church compared my homosexuality to the urges of serial killers or child abusers, who, as myself, need to work hard every day on surpressing these inclinations, in order to be saved from going to Hell.

My intimate life has been deeply impacted by the wound of not being loved as I was, of being part of a system in which only God’s word has relevance. I bear the burden of my parents’ unlived, suppressed sexuality. And I am the first one in generations trying to break free by openly living my sexuality. Yet this road I’ve taken is often an arduous one. My intimacy has been fraught with violence, self-destruction and a deep sense of shame and guilt, which inflicted so much pain into both my partner and myself.

Only recently did I slowly start to realise that I deserve being taken care of. And so does the one I love. It’s a slow process of developing my feeling of self-worth. And finding the others equally worthy...

I chose to be part of this artistic research and to share the story of my intimacy, because I feel that by expressing myself authentically and by understanding my own exploration of sexuality and love, I can reach a better understanding of myself. And maybe a possibility of healing... And I chose to share my story because I feel it’s urgent to be shared. I can be ruthlessly honest, with no shame, because I trust my story is not mine alone. It’s certainly someone else’s as well. And I am not at the end of my story. It's just the beginning...”

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DIRK LANGE

Dirk Lange is an actor, singer and performer. Since 2013, he has been a company member of Schauspiel Leipzig. He was a company member of Staatstheater Braunschweig from 1997 to 2002 and then joined Schauspiel Köln until 2007. He joined the acting company of Theatre Chemnitz in 2008, where he stayed until 2013, and he performed as a guest at Maxim Gorki Theatre. He has worked with directors such as Armin Petras, Claudia Bauer, Dušan David Pařízek, Günter Krämer, Erik Gedeon, Albrecht Hirche, Frederike Heller, Nuran David Calis, Michael Talke, Mateja Koležnik and Enrico Lübbe.

CHRISTIAN BAYERLEIN 
& GRIT UHLEMANN

Life partners Christian Bayerlin and Grit Uhlemann’s advocacy for people with functional diversity centres on the intersections of sexuality and disability. Christian runs a blog on the topic titled kissability.de. They have lectured on disability empowerment and intimacy internationally.

“I’m not afraid of this project or myself being attacked. You know, Adina, when they accuse you of exploiting vulnerable human beings such as the disabled ones, just know that the people screaming are precisely those who have no idea about disability, about what us disabled people feel, need, desire. They have their own false concepts about disability. They look at us as vulnerable and as somebody who has to be protected. But that’s actually patronising, they are putting us down. Like anyone else, I do have the right to enjoy my body, to explore my sexuality and show myself as a sexual being. I believe it is important to show that we, disabled people, have the same desires, dreams, responses to stimuli, like everybody.”

LAURA BENSON

Laura Benson is an actress and acting teacher living in Paris. She trained at the prestigious Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers directed by Patrice Chéreau and Pierre Romans. Her first role was in Hôtel de France (1987) by Patrice Chéreau, and has since worked with directors such as Pierre Romans, Luc Bondy, Irina Brook, and Stuart Seide. In 2003, together with Nathalie Bensard, she conceived and co-wrote George, which she produced with her own theatre company. Her numerous film credits include Dangerous Liaisons by Stephen Frears, I Want to Go Home by Alain Resnais, Ready-to-Wear by Robert Altman, and Spencer by Pablo Larraín.

“Our intimacy, our body are essential and natural aspects of our life, and of our identity, and yet they are topics we find so difficult to talk about, surrounded by so many taboos and blockages. In my education for example, the body never existed, desire was something shameful, and about intimacy we barely ever talked. It was very interesting for me to discover,- during the Touch Me Not research process, - that there are so many different ways to experience intimacy and to relate to your own body, and with the bodies of others, and they’re all as human, as ok, a natural part of life.”

HANNA HOFMANN

Transgender sex worker and activist from Germany, HANNA came ‘out of the closet’ as a trans person when she was 50, after a whole life life in a body and an identity in which she never felt at home. She always wanted to be a woman, in spite of nature endowing her with a vigorous male body. Reaching her 50’s, HANNA finally decided to take the risk and become what she really wanted to be: she left her(his) 20 years of marriage and family and started a new life as a woman. Around the same time she started practicing sex work.

An intelligent and charming conversationalist, HANNA elegantly moves from her philosophical references (she has a Master in Philosophy), to her professional experiences (she makes her living mainly as a real estate agent, complimented by escorting), and to the political and economical crisis in Germany and Europe. She is also an activist for the rights of sex workers and sexual minorities, has been an executive member of BEDS (Berufsverband Erotische Und Sexuelle Dienstleistungen) and providing psychological consultancy to her fellow transsexual sex workers in Leipzig.

Contrary to the general preconceptions, her main reason to practice sex work is not money. Escorting played a central role in her search for identity, being a liberating and inspiring playground where she could explore her sexual preferences and fantasies, her seduction power and vulnerabilities, her femininity.

As well, she debates about the therapeutic qualities of her sex work, both for herself and for the client. The escorting services HANNA provides are an intriguing mix of erotic role-play and psychotherapeutic counselling, having often an empowering effect on the clients, as they feel recognized and reassured that their fantasies and desires are not “wrong” but actually a healthy way to explore themselves.

ADDITIONAL NOTE:  

In his ground-breaking study of human sexuality ‘AROUSAL: The Secret Logic Of Sexual Fantasies’, the psychoanalyst Michael Bader explains how our sexual behaviour, preferences and fantasies are ‘a keyhole through which we have the possibility to see our true selves’, telling a lot about our ‘pathogenic beliefs’/ patterns, about the unreleased psychological tensions that float beneath the surface of our consciousness. ‘Sexual excitement’, he writes, ‘is loaded with taboos in our culture and is inevitably fraught with conflict and complications.’ Using case studies from his 20 years of counselling experience, Bader explains how the shame and guilt patients experience in their early years (via the usual suspects: unhappy childhood, difficult parents) later well up in their intimate lives, oftentimes coming to surface in the form of secret and seemingly deviant fantasies. Throughout the book, Bader attempts to elucidate how these fantasies are used by our unconscious as healthy strategies to ‘undo the beliefs and feelings interfering with sexual excitement, to ensure both our safety and our pleasure’, and thus they become an essential tool for psychotherapy. In Bader’s experience, most patients proved to be able to resolve their issues by understanding the meaning and logic of their fantasies and preferences, which helped them move on to more satisfying relationships.

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Curators

Cosmin Costinaș

Cosmin Costinaş is the Director of Para Site, Hong Kong (since 2011). He was Artistic Director of Kathmandu Triennale (2022), Guest Curator of Dakar Biennale (2018), Guest Curator at the Dhaka Art Summit (2018), Co-curator of the 10th Shanghai Biennale (2014), Curator of BAK, Utrecht (2008-2011), Co-curator of the 1st Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg (2010), and Editor of documenta 12 Magazines, Kassel (2005–2007).

At Para Site, Costinaş oversaw the institution’s major expansion and relocation to a new home and (co)curated the exhibitions: ‘Koloa: Women, Art, and Technology’ (touring at Nuku’alofa, Tonga and Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland); ‘An Opera of Animals’ (touring at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai); ‘A beast, a god, and a line’ (touring at Dhaka Art Summit; Myanm/art&The Secretariat, Yangon; Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw; Kunsthall Trondheim; MAIIAM, Chiang Mai); ‘Soil and Stones, Souls and Songs’ (touring at MCAD, Manila and JT Art Center, Bangkok); ‘Afterwork’ (touring at ILHAM, Kuala Lumpur); ‘Great Crescent: Art and Agitation in the 1960s—Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan’ (touring at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo and MUAC, Mexico City); ‘A Journal of the Plague Year’ (touring at The Cube, Taipei; Arko, Seoul; and Kadist, San Francisco); ‘Taiping Tianguo, A History of Possible Encounters’ (touring at SALT, Istanbul; NUS Museum, Singapore; e-flux, New York), a.o.

He has edited and contributed his writing to numerous books, magazines, and exhibition catalogues and has taught and lectured at different universities, art academies, and institutions across the world.

Viktor Neumann

Viktor Neumann is a Berlin-based curator and art historian. He is, together with Eva Birkenstock and Nikola Dietrich, co-curator of the multi-cycle project reboot: at Ludwig Forum Aachen and Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne. He has curated exhibitions and projects for institutions such as Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw; Bildmuseet Umeå; Total Museum, Seoul; National Centre for Contemporary Art Ekaterinburg; Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart; Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf; The Kitchen, New York; Künstlerhaus Stuttgart. He was co-curator of the transnational Parliament of Bodies, co-curator of Bergen Assembly 2019, curatorial assistant for documenta 14 and assistant curator for the 3rd Moscow International Biennale for Young Art. He was Curatorial Fellow of the Gebert Stiftung für Kultur in Rapperswil 2019 – 2021 and Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellow of the Whitney Museum of American Art ISP 2015 – 2016.

He has been teaching internationally, most recently as Guest Professor for Curatorial Studies at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. He edited several publications, most recently, together with Fanny Hauser, as co-editor of Wicked Little Town (Archive Books, 2021).

Team
  • Attila Kim, Commissioner
  • Corina Bucea, Project Manager
  • Bianca Oana, Creative Producer
  • George Chiper-Lillemark, Director of Photography
  • Martin Backhaus, Exhibition Design
  • Manuel Grandpierre, Sound Design
  • Bernhard Maish, Artistic Consultant for Sound
  • Martin Backhaus, Technical and Post-Production Coordinator
  • Blixa Bargeld, Einstürzende Neubauten, Diana Miron, Throbbing Gristle, Marcel Pérès & Ensemble Organum, Music
  • Augmented Space Agency, VR Installation Design
  • H3 & Kaustik, Light & Video Sculpture Design
  • Vertical Studio, Architecture
  • Paul Dunca / Paula Dunker, Paolo Lagana, Răzvan Firea, Supporting Performers
  • Laurențiu Răducanu, 2nd Camera Cinematographer
  • Dragoș Hanciu, 3rd Camera Cinematographer
  • Adrian Cristea, Set Designer
  • Maria Pitea, Costume Designe
  • Anca Bărbuică, Script Supervisor
  • Daniel Neugebauer, Mediation & Education
  • Larisa Oancea, Mediation & Education
  • Georgiana Petcu, Head of Communication
  • Tiana Alexe, Communication Coordinator
  • Iris Opriș, Social Media
  • Sean Yendrys, Graphic Design
  • Julia Novitch, Website Development
  • Lucian Indrei, Production Assistant
  • Eugenio Ambrosin, Local Production Support
  • Larisa Oancea, Translation
  • Bertha Savu, Translation
  • Maria Gabriela Mitrofan, Financial Coordinator
  • Cristina Serafim, Katharina Thoms, Accountancy
  • Attila Kim, Commissioner

    Attila Kim has been the Commissioner of Romania at La Biennale di Venezia since 2016. An architect with extensive experience in architectural and cultural event design, exhibition architecture, and restoration, he has been nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award (2009, 2011, 2017), for the Iacov Chernikhov contemporary architecture award, and received numerous awards and nominations at the National Architecture Biennale and the Transylvania Architecture Biennale (11 awards and 13 nominations). In 2016, Kim was awarded the Art and Society Leadership Award for the Contribution to Cultural Patrimony from the Aspen Institute. 

    He has designed international exhibitions including Adrian Ghenie: Darwin’s Room at La Biennale di Venezia; Mircea Cantor: Q.E.D., Deimantas Narkevicius: Cupboard and a Song, Geta Brătescu: The Artist’s Studio, subREAL / Retrospect, all National Contemporary Art Museum, Bucharest; European Travellers: Art from Cluj Today, Kunsthalle Budapest; Transformation, Romanian Sculpture 25 Years After the Revolution, Beelden Ann Zee Museum,The Hague; Between the Lines and Gheorghe Ilea: The Relocation Story, Plan B Gallery Cluj. He has been the exhibition architect for the Romanian Design Week, and a series of design presentations showcasing Romanian creatives Stockholm Design Week, Vienna Design Week, London Fashion Week, and London Architecture Festival. 

  • Corina Bucea, Project Manager

    Corina Bucea is a cultural manager based in Cluj, with extensive experience in coordinating cultural projects, arts production, and cultural management. She manages the flagship programme The Academy of Change of the Cluj Cultural Centre and is a founding member of the contemporary art space Fabrica de Pensule / The Paintbrush Factory, Cluj. She has been involved in numerous international projects, being connected with networks such as IETM and/or Balkan Express.

    In the past years, Bucea has been working on a number of projects representing Romania both at the Art and the Architecture editions of the Venice Biennale, including in 2013 and 2016 as project coordinator for Alexandra Pirici and Manuel Pelmuș – An Immaterial Retrospective of the Venice Biennale and Selfie Automaton respectively; as custodian coordinator for Adrian Ghenie – Darwin’s Room in 2015, and as project coordinator for Geta Brătescu - Apparitions in 2017.

  • Bianca Oana, Creative Producer

    Dedicated to discovering filmmakers with a particular artistic view, Berlin-based producer Bianca Oana has been building, over the past 10 years, a solid expertise in handling challenging, unconventional filmmaking processes, at the unpredictable border between fiction and reality, and with complex international co-production structures. Besides producing Golden Bear winner Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie, Oana has been involved since 2009, in developing, producing and distributing multi-awarded art-house films including Collective by Alexander Nanau (double Oscar nominee in 2021 for Best Documentary and Best International Feature), Toto and his Sisters by Alexander Nanau, and Turn off the Lights by Ivana Mladenović. As guest-expert and advisor, Oana held lectures at institutions and events such as Berlinale Talents, Berlin (2019), Consolidating European Cooperation Through Co-Production, Bucharest (2019 conference organised by MEDIA Creative Europe Romania), Days for a Creative Europe, Paris (2018 conference organised by the Council of Europe), International Conference on Women in Film Industry – Zagreb (2019), and others.  

    She has served as a jury member for festivals and funding bodies such as IDFA Bertha Fund & IDFA Forum, Sundance Film Institute, Visions du Reel , InterFilm Berlin Script Pitch, and others.



  • George Chiper-Lillemark, Director of Photography

    George Chiper-Lillemark studied Cinematography at the UNATC National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale”, after receiving a degree in Philosophy at the University of Bucharest. He has been the cinematographer of six award-winning features and over 30 shorts. His work has been honoured in major film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam or Sarajevo. 

    Chiper-Lillemark is a long-term collaborator of Adina Pintilie, having been director of photography on Touch Me Not, as well as on a number of her preceding shorts. He is the recent winner of the Lion of the Future and Giornate Degli Autori Best Director awards at Venice Film Festival 2021 for the Romanian feature film Immaculate, which he photographed and co-directed (together with Monica Stan). He was the director of photography, among others, for Beyond the Hill by Emin Alper (2012), Songs of my Mother by Erol Mintas (2014), The Camp in Razoare by Cristi Iftime (2012), The Palm Lines (2009) by George Chiper (2009), and Sandpit#186 by Adina Pintilie & George Chiper.

  • Martin Backhaus, Exhibition Design

    Martin Backhaus is a Berlin-based exhibition designer, technical director and creative producer and project manager, who works within the triangle of design, technology and management of audiovisual productions such as media exhibitions, fiction and documentary films, virtual & augmented reality, and animation projects. He has a cinema education and a background as a creative producer and in post-production, animation & visual effects artist, being a 2013 graduate of Baden-Württemberg Film Academy, Ludwigsburg. The hybrid-documentary Die Menschenliebe, presented at Visions du Réel 2014 festival was awarded with the German First Steps Award 2014. He collaborated with director Dustin Loose on the short film The Last Will in 2014, which won a Student Oscar in 2015.

    In the past decade, he worked extensively on media exhibitions, spatial design and architecture, 360° immersive experiences, virtual and augmented reality, and new real-time technologies in general. Recent works that were created in collaboration with Berlin-based design studio Tamschick Media+Space include the Museo Lavazza Universo experience in Turin, Italy (2018) and the KTM Motohall Racing Heroes immersive film in Mattighofen, Austria (2019). The Hyundai Motorstudio Goyang Kinetic Sculpture exhibition (2017) was awarded a Red Dot Award in 2017.



  • Manuel Grandpierre, Sound Design

    Manuel Grandpierre is an award-winning sound designer, musician, and re-recording mixer living in Vienna. He studied sound engineering at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He has been working as a sound designer and re-recording mixer on various feature and documentary films for the past decade, encompassing sound recording, sound design and re-recording mixing. 

    He has worked on projects including the internationally acclaimed The Last of the Unjust by Claude Lanzmann, The Shine of Day by Tizza Covi, and Rainer Frimmel and Angelo by Markus Schleinzer.

  • Bernhard Maish, Artistic Consultant for Sound

    Bernhard Maish is one of the most renowned sound designers and re-recording mixers living in Austria. He has been awarded the Austrian Film Award for Best Sound both in 2011 and 2012. He has collaborated with Adina Pintilie for various projects. 

    His filmography includes Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie (2018) - Golden Bear & GWFF Award for Best First Film at Berlinale 2018; Joy by Sudabeh Mortezai (2018) - Label Europa Cinemas Award at Venice Film Festival 2018; Walden by Daniel Zimmermann (2018) - Special Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary 2018; Toni Erdmann by Maren Ade (2016) - FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes Film Festival 2016, 2016 European Film Award winner (for European Film, Director, Actress, Actor, Screenwriter), Lux Prize winner 2016; Little Girl by Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel (2009) - Label Europa Cinemas Award at Cannes Film Festival 2009; Lourdes by Jessica Hausner (2009) - FIPRESCI Prize and Signis Award at Venice Film Festival 2009; Funny Games by Michael Haneke (1997) - Silver Hugo Award at Chicago Film Festival 1997, FIPRESCI Prize at Ghent Film Festival 1997; Models by Ulrich Seidl (1998) - Audience Award at Sarajevo Film Festival 1999.

  • Martin Backhaus, Technical and Post-Production Coordinator
  • Blixa Bargeld, Einstürzende Neubauten, Diana Miron, Throbbing Gristle, Marcel Pérès & Ensemble Organum, Music
  • Augmented Space Agency, VR Installation Design

    Ciprian Făcăeru
    Sabin Șerban
    Dan Făcăeru

    Augmented Space Agency are the explorers of the expanse found at the convergence of reality and virtuality, with the mission to discover new creative and innovative technologies that can generate new sustainable connections between physical and digital spaces. Their work revolves around new media technologies, immersive, interactive and digitally augmented experiences found in the real-virtual continuum and is supported by a crew specialising in software application development, experience design and XR digital content production.

  • H3 & Kaustik, Light & Video Sculpture Design

    Andrei Mitișor
    Florin Niculae
    Marius Dumitrașcu
    Răzvan Pascu

    H3 represents a multidisciplinary collective working with new media art, industrial design and robotics. The team’s projects range from light sculptures and permanent structures to performance and immersive experiences. Kaustik is a production boutique specialised in creating stage sets, props, interior design, and temporary structures for events & exhibitions.

  • Vertical Studio, Architecture
  • Paul Dunca / Paula Dunker, Paolo Lagana, Răzvan Firea, Supporting Performers
  • Laurențiu Răducanu, 2nd Camera Cinematographer
  • Dragoș Hanciu, 3rd Camera Cinematographer
  • Adrian Cristea, Set Designer
  • Maria Pitea, Costume Designe
  • Anca Bărbuică, Script Supervisor
  • Daniel Neugebauer, Mediation & Education

    Daniel Neugebauer is head of the Department of Communications and Cultural Education at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW). His research there is focused on new approaches to intersectional and international forms of learning. Educated as a literary scholar, he is interested in the interfaces of communication and educational work. He received additional training in marketing and cultural work for elderly people. Having trained at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld, from 2012 to 2018 he headed the division of marketing, mediation, and fundraising at the Van Abbemuseum in the Netherlands. During this period, he helped shape the museum as one of Europe's most inclusive art spaces. In 2016 - 2017, he coordinated marketing for documenta 14 in Kassel and Athens. 

    In recent years, inclusion and queering have been the focus of his institutional practice. He is an active member of Berlin’s council for the Arts and is involved as an advisory board member in various smaller international art institutions. He publishes regularly on topics such as inclusive learning, body semiotics and artistic speculation on corporeal futures.



  • Larisa Oancea, Mediation & Education

    Larisa Oancea is an art historian and independent researcher based in Venice. She holds a PhD in Art History and Theory from the National University of Arts in Bucharest. Her thesis investigates the influences of Renaissance art on European cinema, from Sergei Eisenstein to Peter Greenaway and Lech Majewski. Trained both as an art historian and an anthropologist, Oancea has developed a strong interest in the intersection of the arts with other disciplines. She is the author of Nancy Spanier. The Arc of a Dancing Life – a monograph about the American dancer and performer Nancy Spanier – published by Performance Inventions in December 2021. 

    Her most recent experiences include various collaborations: researcher for Siam’s Guy Books, Yogurt Magazine, Performance Inventions; museum assistant at Prada Foundation, Triennale di Milano, Biennale di Venezia, Fondazione Pino Pascali; curator of numerous film sessions (Casa del Cinema Pasinetti, Venice; Floating Cinema Festival, Venice; Palazzo Cesi, Acquasparta; Center for Contemporary Art Club Electroputere, Bucharest/Craiova, among others). She is currently the researcher and manager of Tiane Doan na Champassak’s studio and artists’ books collection in Venice.



  • Georgiana Petcu, Head of Communication

    Having 15 years of experience in the field, Georgiana Petcu has designed and managed numerous information and communication campaigns for European institutions, companies and associations, while also promoting art and cultural projects, such as Touch Me Not - The Politics of the Body and explore festival, dedicated to performing arts. She was previously involved in promoting the LUX Film Days, Europe Day and the launch of the European Year of Citizens in Romania, as well as other events of the Representation of the European Commission and the European Parliament Information Office in Bucharest (2010 – 2015).

    Between 2008 and 2018, she worked in local communication and public affairs agencies, where she coordinated the Cultural, Lifestyle & Corporate PR departments, being responsible for the development of communication strategies, campaign planning and implementation, media relations management, content creation, online communication and evaluation of actions carried out by project teams. Through her collaborations with international organisations and her editorial projects, she is involved in promoting creative industries and art initiatives. She contributed to the promotion of the Romanian Design Week, Diploma and Ideo Ideis festivals between 2016 and 2018, and also of Romanian creatives and art spaces, museums and galleries on the Homo Faber Guide platform, dedicated to European craftsmanship.

  • Tiana Alexe, Communication Coordinator

    Tiana Alexe completed her master’s degree in Cultural Management and Marketing at the UNATC National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale”, Bucharest, receiving a BA in Theatre Studies (Cultural Management & Journalism) from the same university. During her studies, she carried out several internships that involved the promotion of cultural events, such as: Undercloud - International Independent Theatre Festival (2018), National Theatre Festival (2015 - 2016), Excelsior Teen Fest (2017 – 2018), and Ploiești International Film Festival (2014).

    Starting 2019, her work at ACT Theatre has allowed her to be part of or organise different cultural projects. She works as an editor of the theatre magazine Teatrul Azi.

  • Iris Opriș, Social Media

    Iris Opriș is a digital communications specialist and journalist based in Bucharest. Her professional experience spans over a wide range of artistic, cultural and media projects over the past 15 years.

  • Sean Yendrys, Graphic Design

    Sean Yendrys is an independent graphic designer based in Berlin. He is currently Head of the MA Curriculum in Graphic Design at the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn.

  • Julia Novitch, Website Development

    Julia Novitch is a graphic designer and programmer.

  • Lucian Indrei, Production Assistant
  • Eugenio Ambrosin, Local Production Support
  • Larisa Oancea, Translation

    Larisa Oancea is an art historian and independent researcher based in Venice. She holds a PhD in Art History and Theory from the National University of Arts in Bucharest. Her thesis investigates the influences of Renaissance art on European cinema, from Sergei Eisenstein to Peter Greenaway and Lech Majewski. Trained both as an art historian and an anthropologist, Oancea has developed a strong interest in the intersection of the arts with other disciplines. She is the author of Nancy Spanier. The Arc of a Dancing Life – a monograph about the American dancer and performer Nancy Spanier – published by Performance Inventions in December 2021. 

    Her most recent experiences include various collaborations: researcher for Siam’s Guy Books, Yogurt Magazine, Performance Inventions; museum assistant at Prada Foundation, Triennale di Milano, Biennale di Venezia, Fondazione Pino Pascali; curator of numerous film sessions (Casa del Cinema Pasinetti, Venice; Floating Cinema Festival, Venice; Palazzo Cesi, Acquasparta; Center for Contemporary Art Club Electroputere, Bucharest/Craiova, among others). She is currently the researcher and manager of Tiane Doan na Champassak’s studio and artists’ books collection in Venice.



  • Bertha Savu, Translation
  • Maria Gabriela Mitrofan, Financial Coordinator
  • Cristina Serafim, Katharina Thoms, Accountancy

News

‘Adina Pintilie: You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’, in the official opening of Timisoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture
December 14
I AM ANOTHER YOU - A CONFERENCE ON THE BODY. Mediating intimacy and body politics
March 2022
Against the War in Ukraine
more...

News

‘Adina Pintilie: You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’, in the official opening of Timisoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture
December 14
I AM ANOTHER YOU - A CONFERENCE ON THE BODY. Mediating intimacy and body politics
March 2022
Against the War in Ukraine
February 2022
Over One Hundred Applications Submitted under the Open Call for Participants in the Cultural Mediation Programme
February 2022
You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body, by Artist and Filmmaker Adina Pintilie, to Represent Romania at La Biennale di Venezia 2022
×
‘Adina Pintilie: You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’, in the official opening of Timisoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture

‘Adina Pintilie: You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’

Curators: Cosmin Costinaș and Viktor Neumann

Performers: Hermann Müller, Dirk Lange, Christian Bayerlein & Grit Uhlemann, Laura Benson, Hanna Hofmann

In the official opening of  the program “Timisoara 2023 -  European Capital of Culture”

Kunsthalle Bega (Calea Circumvalațiunii 10, Timișoara)

Visiting hours

Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00–18:00

Opening weekend

Official opening: Friday, February 17, 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Public opening: Friday, February 17, 3:00 - 8:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday, February 18 & 19, 12:00 - 6:00 pm


After successfully representing Romania at 59th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2022, the exhibition ‘You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’ by artist and filmmaker Adina Pintilie, will be presented for the first time in Romania, at Kunsthalle Bega, in the official opening of ‘Timisoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture’ (February 17-19, 2023). The opening event will take place on February 17 at 1 p.m. It will be attended by artist Adina Pintilie, curators Cosmin Costinaș, Viktor Neumann, protagonists Hermann Müller and Dirk Lange and creative producer Bianca Oana. 

Nominated to represent Romania at the 2022 Venice Art Biennial, the exhibition ‘You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’ presented a series of new art works by Adina Pintilie: several film installations, a cinematic sculpture and a VR installation. Reimagining the historically loaded Romanian pavilion into a contemporary ‘cathedral’, the exhibition celebrates the body and human connections beyond preconceptions, encouraging openness to different experiences of the body and diverse views of the world. It proposes possibilities to see, to think, and to relate, that destabilize ingrained visual rhetoric and politics of the gaze, making way for new forms of knowing and for transformative experiences.

“Enrapturing… a visceral and unsettling experience”, according to the Art Newspaper, called ‘a masterpiece of the moment’ by Artpress, and “moving, prejudice busting” by art critic Louisa Buck, the project has been received with great acclaim by the international press, being ranked in esteemed publications among the most appreciated national participations to the last edition of the Biennale. 

Read more about the echoes of the project in international media in the Press Coverage section.

The exhibition presented in Venice from April 23 to November 27, 2022 was adapted to Kunsthalle Bega art space în Timișoara with the support of the City of Timișoara - Center for Projects and BRD Groupe Société Générale, leading partner, by artist Bogdan Rața together with exhibition designer Martin Backhaus, sound mixers Marius Leftărache and Vlad Feneșan, H3 media art studio and VR designer collective Augmented Space Agency.

Statement by Alina Cristescu, Kunsthalle Bega: “It is a great honor for our team to be trusted by Adina Pintilie, whose human and artistic essences charmed us from the first moments, to co-produce and present her newest project, «You Are Another Me–A Cathedral of the Body» at Kunsthalle Bega, Timișoara.”

Statement by Corina Oprea, curator “People” - Timișoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture: “Adina Pintilie’s exceptional multimedia installation «You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body» is a manifesto for love and a celebration of bodies as vehicles of knowledge in a world of ever-increasing isolation. With feeling and diligence, Adina Pintilie creates a safe space for addressing the importance of intimacy, an infinite chance of opening towards diverse worlds invoked and to be discovered. The presentation of this masterful production is an event at national level, and I am grateful to Adina for accepting the invitation to have the premiere at the Opening of Timisoara 2023 European Capital of Culture. Thank you to Manekino team and to Kunsthalle Bega for their co-organization.”

Statement by curators Cosmin Costinaș and Viktor Neumann: “There is a particular timeliness about Adina Pintilie’s project: today, once again, the body has become a contested site for ideologies, a pretext for cultural and political anxiety, brought to the extreme by the recent outbreak of an atrocious war on the European continent, motivated by an imperialist, nationalist ideology and fascist ethos. Amidst this resurgence of right-wing ideologies, seen throughout the world and accelerated during the pandemic—which also saw a hijacking of the discourses on body autonomy—Pintilie imagines a contemporary site for the transgression of divisions towards mutual affection and devotion.”

The project’s Cultural Mediation Programme, realized in partnership with HKW Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin and coordinated by Larisa Oancea (art historian and researcher) and Daniel Neugebauer (Head of Communication and Cultural Education at HKW Berlin),  was launched for young researchers and students to assist the visiting audience during the exhibition ‘You Are Another Me–A Cathedral of the Body’. The participants will have the important role of ensuring, on the one hand, the mediation process of the exhibition content with the visiting public of the exhibition, and on the other hand, to extend and deepen the artistic research on topics inherent to Adina Pintilie’s project, such as the poetics of intimacy and the politics of the body.

The exhibition ‘You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’ is open to the public at Kunsthalle Bega, from February 17 to April 30, 2023. Then it will continue its international exhibition route, in Germany, at the Württembergischer Kunstverein,  Stuttgart (October 2023 - February 2024).

You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body is part of the Opening of Timișoara 2023 - European Capital of Culture and financed by the Municipality of Timișoara through the Center for Projects and produced by Manekino Film, Manekino Cultural Association, Kunsthalle Bega and Calina Foundation, supported by BRD Groupe Société Générale as main partner, and by the Romanian Cultural Institute. 

A project produced by: Manekino Film, Manekino Cultural Association, Kunsthalle Bega and Calina Foundation, Timișoara Center for Projects

Co-producers:  Avanpost, Snaporazverein

In collaboration with: Eidotech, H3, Augmented Space Agency 

Main partner:  BRD Groupe Société Générale 

Supported by: Romanian Cultural Institute

Institutional partner: Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) Berlin 

Academic partners: UNATC National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” in Bucharest, CINETic International Centre for Research and Education in Innovative Creative Technologies,  UVT University of Arts and Design in Timișoara

Private partners: Bega Group, Tudor Havriliuc & David Corbell, Andrei Dunca

Public programme partners: Kilobase, Dispozitiv Books, Motivation Romania Foundation, MozaiQ Association

Liked by Radio Guerrilla

Media and monitoring partners: TVR, Radio Guerrilla, Radio România Cultural, Europa Liberă România, Radio România Internațional, Deutsche Welle, Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung, Revista Arta, Scena9, Kajet Journal, Observator Cultural, Propagarta, Libertatea, Elle, Avantaje, Unica.ro, The Institute, LiterNet, Modernism.ro, mediaTRUST

December 14
I AM ANOTHER YOU - A CONFERENCE ON THE BODY. Mediating intimacy and body politics

CONFERENCE | December 14, 09.00 - 19.00 | CINETic (#3-b Tudor Arghezi Street, Bucharest)

In conjunction with the closing of the Venice Biennale, the symposium ‘I AM ANOTHER YOU - A CONFERENCE ON THE BODY. Mediating intimacy and body politics’ will take place on Wednesday, December 14. The event is organised by the Research, Development, Innovation Department of UNATC - National University of Theatre and Film "I.L.Caragiale" Bucharest - together with the Cultural Association MANEKINO and KAJET Journal.

The symposium will be hosted by the International Centre for Research and Education in Innovative Creative Technologies (CINETic) of UNATC and will mark the end of the Mediation Programme of the project ‘You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’, which unfolded between March-November 2022, in partnership with HKW Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin, in collaboration with five universities from Romania and Italy: UNATC - National University of Theater and Film „I.L.Caragiale” Bucharest, CESI - Center of Excellence in Image Studies Bucharest, Università Iuav di Venezia, UNAGE - National University of Arts „George Enescu” Iași, UAD - University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca. Coordinated by Larisa Oancea (art historian and researcher based in Venice) and Daniel Neugebauer (Head of Communication and Cultural Education at HKW Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin), the mediation programme brought together, over the past eight months, 37 young researchers and students from seven countries (Romania, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Finland, and Turkey) and different academic backgrounds: art history, cinema, philosophy, performing arts, architecture, and design. During their time of residence in Venice, they had the important role of ensuring, on the one hand, the mediation process of the exhibition content with the visiting public of the Romanian Pavilion and the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice, and on the other hand, to extend and deepen the artistic research on topics inherent to Adina Pintilie’s project, such as the poetics of intimacy and the politics of the body. The research dimension focused on the participatory relationship and the cognitive-emotional impact of artistic experiences on visitors, as well as the potential for learning and transformation through an 'embodied' experience of artistic processes.

The symposium ‘I AM ANOTHER YOU - A CONFERENCE ON THE BODY. Mediating intimacy and body politics’ will provide a space for debate and reflection, placing artist and filmmaker Adina Pintilie’s research in the context of current conversations related to the politics and poetics of intimacy and the body. Moderated by curators Cosmin Costinaș and Viktor Neumann, the event will consist of a series of debates and presentations that bring together the experiences and viewpoints of the participants in the mediation programme, with the contributions of invited professionals and researchers from the international academic and artistic world, such as ​​Antonio Centeno, Victor Ciobotaru, Lennard J. Davis, Margherita Falqui, Elizabeth Freeman, Daria Ghiu, Emilian Lungu, Robert McRuer, Bogdan Popa, Monica Seiceanu, and  Ana Vicovan. 

 ‘I AM ANOTHER YOU - A CONFERENCE ON THE BODY. Mediating intimacy and body politics’ will also be available for online streaming on the project’s Facebook page (@cathedralofthebody) or on the UNATC YouTube Channel (@UNATCILCaragiale).  

In the context of the Symposium “I AM ANOTHER YOU - A CONFERENCE ABOUT THE BODY”, the VR installation ‘You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’ will be presented from December 14 - 21, between 18:00 to 21:00), at the International Centre for Research and Education in Innovative Creative Technologies - CINETic (Tudor Arghezi street, 3b, Bucharest). The VR installation was developed by artist Adina Pintilie in collaboration with the VR design team of Augmented Space Agency (Ciprian Făcăeru, Sabin Șerban and Dan Făcăeru) and CINETic UNATC. The installation can be  experienced by appointment by email: info@cathedralofthebody.com

PROGRAM

9.00 – 9.30 Welcoming the participants. Morning coffee.

9.30 – 10.00 Conference Opening 

PANEL 1

10.00 – 11.00 Daria Ghiu and Victor Ciobotaru in conversation with Cosmin Costinaș & Viktor Neumann 

PANEL 2

11.00 – 11.30 Input 1 Bogdan Popa

11.30 – 12.00 Input 2 Lennard J. Davis

12.00 – 12.30 Q&A Session. Moderator: Cosmin Costinaș & Viktor Neumann


12.30 – 12.45 Coffee break 

PANEL 3

12.45 – 13.15 Input 3 Robert McRuer, Crip Intimacy, Crip World-Making

13.15 – 13.45 Input 4 Antonio Centeno (zoom)

13.45 – 14.15 Q&A Session. Moderator: Cosmin Costinaș & Viktor Neumann

14.15 – 15.15 Lunch

PANEL 4

15.15 – 16.45 Biennale Mediators Round Table: Reflections on Bodies

Intro Moderator: Daniel Neugebauer (5’): Core question: Which role does/did your or other bodies play? How diverse was the audience? What is the percentage of meaningful encounters? What was your take on Corpoliteracy?

Impulse 1 (15’): Monica Seiceanu (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), You Are Another Me: An Antidote to Otherness (ZOOM)

Discussion 1 (10’): Queer theory vs conservative art practices.

Impulse 2 (15’): Margherita Falqui (IUAV, Venice), Bodies of care. An analysis of Adina Pintilie’s work through the lens of care

Discussion 2 (10’): Not touch me not - but then what? Reflecting cross-mediality.

INTERVENTION (5’): Practicing touch and no touch

Impulse 3 (15’): Emilian Lungu (CESI, Bucharest), On the abject and the non-normative body

Discussion closure (15’): Sociopolitical analysis: Who was there? >From where in Europe? With what agenda? How to navigate that → question to our new experts as closing round.

Mediators PANEL:

Daniel Neugebauer, Mediation Program Coordinator

Larisa Oancea,  Mediation Programme Coordinator (ZOOM)

Defne Ar, IUAV Venice (ZOOM)

Iuliana Bărăboi, UNAGE Iași

Lucas Begendi, IUAV Venice

Elena Belciu, UNATC Bucharest

Antonio Darius Brătoiu, CESI Bucharest

Raluca Elena Covaci, CESI Bucharest

Andrea-Isabel Stanciu, UNATC

Daiana-Maria Stănușoiu, UNATC

Margherita Falqui, IUAV Venice

Gavril Pop, UVT graduate

Cristiana Ursache, UNAGE Iași

Iuliana Daneliuc, UNATC

Davida Zimmermann, TU Munich

Linda Motto, IUAV Venice

Maria Rusu, UAD

Andreea-Elena Goța, UAD

Miruna Găman, University of Bucharest

Teodor–Andrei Cazan, TU Munich

Silvia Francis Berry, IUAV Venice (ZOOM)

Monica Seiceanu, Sorbonne Paris (ZOOM)

Sophia Mayr, COTB (ZOOM)

PANEL 5

16.45 – 17.45  Sensoriality - the cornerstone of human performativity. Interdisciplinary research panel for UNATC PhD students. 

16.45 - 17.00 Ciprian Făcăeru   

17.00 - 17.15 Ana Vicovan

17.15 - 17.45 Q&A Session. Moderator: Elena Belciu

17.45 – 18.00 Coffee break  

FINAL INPUT  

18.00 – 18.30 Input 5 Elizabeth Freeman (zoom)

18.30 – 19.00 Q&A Session. Moderator: Cosmin Costinaș & Viktor Neumann

19.00 Closing of the COTB Symposium

March 2022
Against the War in Ukraine

We are shaken by the war crimes against Ukraine and fully condemn the inhuman aggression engineered by the Russian government against a free, sovereign, and democratic country. With deep pain and anger, we see the spectre of many political and historical traumas re-emerging and gaining force.

When our project was appointed to represent Romania at the Venice Biennale this January, we embraced the task with great joy, yet also with a certain unease. You Are Another Me looks at the frailty of our bodies in this increasingly tormented world, and the urgent need to cultivate connection and empathy between individuals as a premise to build societies of solidarity. Representing a nation, an expectation that the Venice Biennale is premised upon, 'our nation' or any other, is a heavy and uncomfortable burden, haunted by the ghosts of the past and the demons of the present. The building of the Romanian Pavilion itself is an unmistakable witness of Europe's troubled history, maintaining the rigid angles of the fascist architecture of the 1930s and the mark of the original contract which founded it as an instrument of national representation - a contract signed, right before World War 2, by war criminal Benito Mussolini and one of the towering figures of Romanian nationalism and antisemitism, Nicolae Iorga. 

Soon after that, the Romanian army, backed by its king, dictator, and by large segments of Romania's intellectual and economic elites as well as by many citizens, invaded the Soviet Union through Ukraine, alongside Nazi Germany, Hungary, and their allies. The Romanian occupation of Odessa was a regime of bestiality and mass murder, one of the lowest and most shameful moments in Romania’s history. Our grandfathers and granduncles committed that savagery under a combination of religiously framed nationalist resentments and fascist disregard of the value of humanity and of human bodies. We can recognise these ugly traces behind the drive and actions of the Russian armies committing atrocities in Ukraine, with broad support from many parts of Russian society. Yet there were then, as there are now, on all sides of this brutal and absurd destruction, human beings of great integrity, which openly oppose the darkness of history. And there are millions of individuals brave enough to live silent yet non-fascist lives, while everything around them would push them towards collective delusion. We stand in respect and solidarity with all these people of dignity from Ukraine, Russia, and all over the world, caught in atrocious and absurd wars. 

As Ukraine is encroached in cruelty, and as many of us in Romania and across our region self-organise in networks to welcome in our homes refugees from Ukraine, irrespective of race and creed, we cannot forget the unresolved and painful past that links us together. Here, we have not said ‘never again’ until it happened again. So may this also be a pledge for the beginning of a reckoning of all our deepest and most tormenting traumas, as well as shameful forgetting, and to come together for a non-fascist future without borders, neither inside nor at the margins of this continent of blood. To dismantle imperialist thinking with all its dragon heads, to heal all the fears and obsessions that gave birth to it, and to remake from the ground the system that brought it to life and doesn’t let it die. And may we all be like the Ukrainian people in our greatest moments of trial, showing courage and dignity in all their forms! 

The international community's help is crucial now. Please find here more resources on how to help Ukraine: 

Ukraine Red Cross
https://www.facebook.com/RedCrossUkraine/ 

Ukraine — Help for Ukrainians with disabilities
https://www.facebook.com/fightforright.ua
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-disabled-Ukrainians 

Berlin
https://linktr.ee/ukrainehelpberlin 

Romania
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unitipentruucraina
https://linktr.ee/ukrainehelp
http://portal.tubman.network/univention/portal/

The team of You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body

February 2022
Over One Hundred Applications Submitted under the Open Call for Participants in the Cultural Mediation Programme

More than a hundred applications were submitted in the open call dedicated to the cultural mediation programme of the project representing Romania at La Biennale di Venezia 2022, You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body. Addressed to young researchers and students, the call ended on March 10, after being presented within the partner universities and the communication channels of the project. The first meeting with the students took place in Venice, at IUAV University, on February 21, 2022, in the presence of artist Adina Pintilie.

Responsible for ensuring the best possible public experience, the cultural mediators will be the ambassadors of the exhibition during the biennial. Beyond welcoming the visitors into the exhibition space and offering assistance in the two venues (the Romanian Pavilion at Giardini della Biennale and the New Gallery of Romanian Cultural Institute and Humanistic Research in Venice), they will also take part in the research included in the mediation programme and developed in partnership with the universities involved in the project. 

The announcement of the chosen custodians was made in March, following the selection process conducted by the programme’s coordinators: Daniel Neugebauer (Head of Communications & Cultural Education at HKW) and Larisa Oancea (Art Historian & Independent Researcher based in Venice). 

The initiative offers participants the opportunity to learn via art mediation, communication and the production of a major international exhibition in the context of La Biennale di Venezia, the chance to gain knowledge in the theme and the conceptual framework of the project, as well as to expand their fields of interest and research. 

The academic partners of You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body are UNATC National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” Bucharest, CESI - Centre of Excellence in Image Studies Bucharest, “George Enescu” National University of Arts Iași, University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca, and Università Iuav di Venezia.

February 2022
You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body, by Artist and Filmmaker Adina Pintilie, to Represent Romania at La Biennale di Venezia 2022
  • The project has been selected by a jury of visual art professionals through an open call organised by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Cultural Institute. The selection was officially announced within a press conference assembled at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest on February 8, 2022.
  • The project has been selected by a jury of visual art professionals through an open call organised by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Cultural Institute. The selection was officially announced within a press conference assembled at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest on February 8, 2022.
  • The project has been selected by a jury of visual art professionals through an open call organised by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Cultural Institute. The selection was officially announced within a press conference assembled at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest on February 8, 2022.
  • The project has been selected by a jury of visual art professionals through an open call organised by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Cultural Institute. The selection was officially announced within a press conference assembled at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest on February 8, 2022.
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Representing Romania at Biennale Arte 2022, the project You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body was announced in early February at a press conference held at the Romanian Cultural Institute. The project created by Adina Pintilie and curated by Cosmin Costinaș and Viktor Neumann was chosen by a jury of visual art professionals via an open call organised by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Cultural Institute. 

You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body consists of a multi-channel video installation at the Romanian Pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale, complemented by a VR experience in the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research, and a public program which will run over the course of the biennial (April 23 – November 27, 2022).

Present at the press conference, together with the members of the jury and the representatives of the organising institutions, the Romanian Commissioner for La Biennale di Venezia, Attila Kim, stated: “Continuing the series of internationally successful Romanian artists who have represented Romania at the recent editions of La Biennale di Venezia, with exhibitions alternating between works created not only in the traditional art mediums of art, such as painting or graphics, but also art installations or performance, this year we present a new face of Romanian contemporary art, through Adina Pintilie.”

Statements from the organisers:

Liviu Jicman, president of the Romanian Cultural Institute: “Romania’s participation at La Biennale di Venezia materializes a dialogue with the world of international contemporary art initiated over 100 years ago, when the first Romanian presence took place at this event. By participating at the biennial, Romanian artists have made a significant contribution to consolidating a relevant and respected position of Romania in the international context of contemporary art.” 

Liviu Brătescu, Secretary of State within the Ministry of Culture: “Through this project, Romania presents at La Biennale di Venezia a universal valid perspective, which stands out by promoting diversity and inclusion. The project makes a significant contribution to the current conversations towards reassessing the normative in gender, bodily ability and diversity. Furthermore, its concept follows one of the thematic areas on which the biennial focuses in 2022: the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses.”

Andrei Novac, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “We welcome the selection of the project “You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body, especially as Adina Pintilie is an internationally confirmed artistic presence. We are also pleased that this project highlights creativity and academic research. We hope that Romania’s participation at La Biennale di Venezia will receive the recognition that we believe it deserves and we are committed to supporting the project team in its realization.”

You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body marks the next stage of Pintilie’s multi-platform research on the politics and poetics of intimacy and the body, initiated with her feature film Touch Me Not, winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival 2018. The film has been screened internationally in cinemas and art institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, ICA London, BOZAR Brussels, and acclaimed worldwide for its boundary-pushing filmic language and aesthetics. Created in collaboration with artists, activists, institutions and communities across Europe, her long-term, trans-disciplinary research has been generating a complex visual material that the artist explores through different languages ​​and mediums - installation, cinema, interactive performance, publication and virtual experiences.

According to the curators: “There is a particular timeliness about presenting this project at the first visual art edition of the Venice Biennale since the start of the pandemic and its deep transformative impact on our world. This virus unequivocally marks a paradigmatic shift for the politics of touch, alongside many others on personal, societal, and political levels, bringing about often contradictory new realities: physical distance and isolation as well as new forms of connection; a deeper acknowledgement of the frailty and impermanence of the body, of life, and of the world, as well as renewed needs for solidarity and for building diverse alliances. In this context, a self-reflective, and non-judgmental exploration of the realms of intimacy and corporeality is ever more urgent. As noted by the artist herself, in the spirit of the Mayan greeting ‘You are Another Me’, A Cathedral of the Body places our connection to the bodies of others and to our own at the centre of our personal and political lives.”

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Press Centre

Press Release, ‘Adina Pintilie: You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body’, in the official opening of Timisoara 2023 -  European Capital of Culture




Brochure TM23 RO/EN [print PDF]


Press Release, ‘I AM ANOTHER YOU - A CONFERENCE ON THE BODY’ marks the closing of the project ‘Adina Pintilie: You Are Another Me - A Cathedral of the Body’, representing Romania at the 2022 Venice Art Biennale [December 2022]


Press Release, Post-Opening [May 2022]


Press Kit, Official Opening [April 2022]


Press Release, Opening Announcement [April 2022]


Press Release, Project Presentation [Feb 2022]


Brochure [Print PDF]


Brochure [Mobile]


For media enquiries, please contact:

Tiana Alexe, Communication Coordinator
press@cathedralofthebody.com 

Press Coverage

September 2022

Artpress calls You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body ‘a masterpiece of the moment’: “Adina Pintilie imagines a space of conviviality beyond borders and binary reasoning. The dazzling beauty of the images, the framing full of delicacy, the overexposure of light diffusing a clear halo around the witnesses lying on white sheets and a superb soundtrack magnify these sincere confessions which break with ideologically formatted speeches. […] An artist in full possession of her means. To be followed closely.”
April 2022

The Art Newspaper: "A visceral and unsettling experience that will stay with you for the rest of the Biennale."
April 2022

Vogue: "A Cathedral of the Body, at the Romanian Pavilion, prompted tears and cries of Bravissima! among visitors. [...] Easily one of 2022’s most provocative works for its raw, frank and unabashed approach to bodies and intimacy."
more...

Press Coverage

September 2022

Artpress calls You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body ‘a masterpiece of the moment’: “Adina Pintilie imagines a space of conviviality beyond borders and binary reasoning. The dazzling beauty of the images, the framing full of delicacy, the overexposure of light diffusing a clear halo around the witnesses lying on white sheets and a superb soundtrack magnify these sincere confessions which break with ideologically formatted speeches. […] An artist in full possession of her means. To be followed closely.”
April 2022

The Art Newspaper: "A visceral and unsettling experience that will stay with you for the rest of the Biennale."
April 2022

Vogue: "A Cathedral of the Body, at the Romanian Pavilion, prompted tears and cries of Bravissima! among visitors. [...] Easily one of 2022’s most provocative works for its raw, frank and unabashed approach to bodies and intimacy."
April 2022

The Guardian: "I was touched and grateful..."
November 2022

Frieze: "Adina Pintilie’s VR work is effective not because of the technological trickery at work, but because the viewer’s understanding of what makes these humans tick is so intimately portrayed."
October 2022

Art & Education: "Transgressing those normative and exclusive dichotomies (…), the exhibition space serves as a cathedralesque space of acceptance, learning, and, ultimately, boundless celebration."
August 2022

ATP Diary: "Powerful images, which shock or move the audience, hardly leave them indifferent."
July 2022

Igloo: "Despite the cultural conservatism and corrosive traditional climate, the Romanian Pavilion proposes a framework for reflection on one's own body and the traces that history leaves, over time and through repeated experiences."
June 2022

TVR (Romanian TV): Interview with artist Adina Pintilie about how the installation You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body furthers the investigation she started in the medium of classical film, turning the gaze from the screen back to the viewers.
June 2022

Observator Cultural: "Adina Pintilie's project, curated by the internationally experienced Cosmin Costinaș, succeeds in capturing its audience by organising an intensely heterotopic space of its own, with large screens intersecting in the dark, the only sources of light being the inner background (the white, extended bed) of the screens and the bodies themselves, their almost unchallenging emptiness: the light of the bodies (or, as I said, poetically, somewhere else: Earth, the only star)."
May 2022

Ocula Magazine: "You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body, Adina Pintilie's contribution to the Romanian Pavilion is as great as everyone says."
May 2022

Sleek Magazine: "Adina Pintilie (awarded the Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival 2018) offered an unabashed look at intimacy, exploring the ways we connect to each other and our own bodies."
April 2022

ARD (German TV): "A work as a test of the innermost, of the soul. A work that will follow us for a long time, a work that goes deeper than most."
April 2022

Wallpaper*: "The talk of the art town were Romania (Adina Pintilie), Canada (Stan Douglas) and Brazil (Jonathas de Andrade) in the Giardini."
April 2022

ARTouch: "More importantly, when the entire art world is experimenting with the artistic possibilities that VR technology can bring, Pintilie gives an answer worthy of reference."
April 2022

Evening Standard: "At the New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research there’s a VR piece you shouldn’t miss."
April 2022

Numéro: "[...] tenderness emerges, provoking the astonishment of a viewer who detects [...] the contemporary expression of a true humanity."
April 2022

De Standaard: "The installation made for Romania is of a different calibre. Physicality, tenderness and intimacy, with a person with a disability in a leading role, come into the picture in a disarming way."
April 2022

ARTnews: "The can’t-miss work is a VR piece in which the viewer is allowed to look at, touch, and even see through the eyes of Pintilie’s subjects."
April 2022

Artnet News: "The body as a theme appeared with more rigor at the Romanian pavilion, where film director Adina Pintilie offered an unabashed look at intimacy."

April 2022

ArtReview: Interview with Artist Adina Pintile and Curators Cosmin Costinaș and Viktor Neumann on Romania at the 59th Venice Biennale
April 2022

Film New Europe: "The project You Are Another Me - A Cathedral of the Body by the Romanian Berlinale Golden Bear winner Adina Pintilie is representing Romania at the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia 2022."
April 2022

ZDF: Interview with artist Adina Pintilie and Christian Bayerlein, one of the project's protagonists
March 2022

Kajet Journal: "Artist and filmmaker Adina Pintilie has been selected to represent Romania at the 59th International Venice Biennale 2022, with the project You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body, closely developed with curators Cosmin Costinaș and Viktor Neumann."
March 2022

ARTnews: "The Romanian Pavilion is conceived as a site to reflect upon the body as a device to process recognized and unrecognized history, trauma, and desires."
February 2022

e-flux: "You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body marks the next stage of Pintilie’s multi-platform research on the politics and poetics of intimacy and the body, initiated with her feature film Touch Me Not—winner of the Golden Bear at the 2018 Berlinale and acclaimed worldwide for its boundary-pushing language and aesthetics."
February 2022

Artnet News: "The artist and filmmaker Adina Pintilie will represent Romania at the Venice Biennale."
February 2022

ARTnews: "Romania has tapped artist and filmmaker Adina Pintilie to present a solo outing; Cosmin Costinaș and Viktor Neumann are curating."
February 2022

TVR (Romanian TV): "At the Venice Biennale, Romania participates with You Are Another Me—A Cathedral of the Body, a project by Adina Pintilie."
February 2022

Deutsche Welle: "The project created by Adina Pintilie was selected following the national competition organized by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Cultural Institute."
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A PROJECT PRODUCED BY
Manekino Cultural Association

ORGANISERS
Romanian Ministry of Culture, Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romanian Cultural Institute

CO-PRODUCERS
Manekino Film, Avanpost, Snaporazverein

IN COLLABORATION WITH
Augmented Space Agency, ARRI Lighting, Eidotech, H3 & Kaustik, Mimic Productions

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Goethe-Institut Bukarest, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media, ERSTE Foundation

ACADEMIC PARTNERS
UNATC National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” Bucharest, CESI - Centre of Excellence in Image Studies Bucharest, “George Enescu” National University of Arts Iași, University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca, Università Iuav di Venezia

PRIVATE PARTNERS
Tudor Havriliuc & David Corbell, Andrei Dunca, UniCredit Bank, Groupama, Vinexpert, Grup Transilvae, Anca Poterașu Gallery, ARAC Romanian Contemporary Art Association, KGP Filmproduktion, Sky Tour, Christa Gebert 

CATALOGUE AND PUBLIC PROGRAMME PARTNERS
Spector Books, Dispozitiv Books, Cărturești, Motivation Romania Foundation, Mozaiq Association

MEDIA AND MONITORING PARTNERS
TVR, Radio Guerrilla, Radio România Cultural, Europa Liberă România, Radio România Internațional, Deutsche Welle, Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung, Revista Arta, Scena9, Kajet Journal, Observator Cultural, DoR | Decât o Revistă, Propagarta, HotNews, Libertatea, Elle România, Avantaje, Unica.ro, The Institute, LiterNet, Modernism, mediaTRUST

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Mihai Pop, Mihaela Lutea, Andrei Tănăsescu, Gabriel Chiș, Blixa Bargeld, Joachim Umlauf, Victor Ciobotaru, Florin Buhuceanu, Paul B. Preciado, Antje Ehmann, Luis Feduchi, Alex Lo, Sophie Erbs, Maximilian Haslberger, Balthasar Busmann, Barbara Pichler, Radovan Síbrt, Alžběta Karásková, Ulla Hahn, Emilie Bujes, Paolo Moretti, Jonathan Pouthier, Corina Șuteu, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Art Encounters Foundation, Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Paula Hotea, Marco Alessi, Mandy Rahn, Bernard Michaux, Amalia Enache, Flavia Stamate, Alexandra Puiu, Anastasia Dumitrescu, Vlad Feneșan, Anca Brezeanu, Cristina Serafim, Sophia Mayr, Elena Schloendorff, Dragoș Olea, Sandra Demetrescu, Anca Hrab

Accessibility

Exhibition Venues

Romanian Pavilion
Giardini della Biennale
Sestiere Castello, 30122 Venice

New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research
Campo Santa Fosca
Palazzo Correr, Cannaregio 2214
30121 Venice


Exhibition dates
April 23 – November 27, 2022


Opening hours
April 23 – September 25, 2022:
11 am – 7 pm
September 27 – November 27, 2022:
10 am – 6 pm

Closed on Mondays
Extra openings: Monday 31 October, Monday 21 November


For information on tickets, prices, special opening times, and other exhibition venues at the Biennale di Venezia, please access: www.labiennale.org.

Please find below the accessibility guidelines for visiting our exhibition venues:

  • Romanian Pavilion, Giardini della Biennale

Folding chairs and two wheelchairs are available for all visitors at the entrance of the Pavilion.

Users of wheelchairs, rollators or strollers

We recommend you to use the new entrance to the Giardini that has been established for this edition of La Biennale, conveniently located next to the Romanian Pavilion. Since most parts of the Giardini are difficult to navigate for some wheelchairs due to loose gravel on the paths, the new entrance can be helpful. 

The gravel path consists of about 100 metres until you reach the ramp at the Romanian Pavilion, especially installed for you to visit the multi-channel video installation inside it.

To see which other pavilions are accessible, please refer to the official map or website of La Biennale di Venezia. 

For any questions, please talk to one of the custodians in the pavilion who are more than happy to help.

Deaf visitors
The installation in the Romanian pavillion has a soundscape. All spoken parts are transcribed on the screens and can be read in English.

Unfortunately, there is no service in sign language.


Blind and visually impaired visitors
We recommend visiting the Romanian Pavilion together with a seeing person.

There are no orientation marks for sticks on the ground, while the walls are reflecting and mirror the video content, which can make orientation with impaired vision hard.


Ticketing
For visiting the Romanian Pavilion in the Giardini, we recommend purchasing tickets online to avoid queues and inaccessible sales booths. The New Gallery of the Romanian Cultural Institute can be visited free of charge and without prior registration.

  • The New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice

Users of wheelchairs, rollators or strollers

The gallery is wheelchair accessible, but located in an area of the city that might be inaccessible to some persons.

People with limited mobility can take the vaporetto and get off at Cà D'Oro stop (Line 1) or San Marquola stop (Line 1), but will have to cross two bridges without ramps. Should you not be able to do so, we do not recommend this path.

An alternative is to take a taxi equipped with an elevator platform inside. The taxi will allow boarding and disembarking from the boat and landing in two possible locations:

1) in Campo Santa Fosca (two other steps must be overcome in this case)

or

2) take the taxi next to the Ponte di Santa Fosca over the Rio di Noale.

We recommend clear arrangements with the taxi beforehand to avoid disappointments.

Deaf visitors or blind and visually impaired visitors

The VR installation in the New Gallery is not accessible to blind visitors, but can be enjoyed for deaf visitors or visitors with impaired hearing.

Further information


Should you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact us. You can also find the official accessibility guidelines of La Biennale di Venezia here.

CONTACT
info@cathedralofthebody.com


MEDIA ENQUIRIES
press@cathedralofthebody.com

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: @cathedralofthebody
Instagram: @cathedralofthebody
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PRIVACY POLICY

NEWSLETTER

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